Working with Flinders Island to Realise Tourism Potential

25 September 2009

Minister for Tourism and the Arts, Michelle O’Byrne said today the State Government would continue working with the Flinders Island community to help realise its tourism potential.

“Flinders Island has an amazing tapestry of aboriginal, maritime, aviation, shipping and farming heritage to share with visitors,” Ms O’Byrne said. 

Ms O’Byrne last night attended the Flinders Island Tourism Association’s (FITA) annual dinner and said it was important to improve marketing of tourism experiences and highlight opportunities for industry development on the island.

Ms O’Byrne said the island’s indigenous heritage had already been identified as a key tourism opportunity.

“The cultural significance of Wybalenna to the Island and the Tasmanian Aboriginal Community is important and indigenous heritage when combined with appropriate and culturally sensitive interpretation would be of great interest to visitors.”

Ms O’Byrne said the joint efforts of the Flinders Island Tourism Association and Tourism Tasmania had seen a number of tourism initiatives put in place over the past year.

“Tourism Tasmania has recently worked with FITA to produce a dedicated A4 brochure to inspire visitors to travel to Flinders Island and has also conducted a food tourism workshop on the island.” 

“The workshop gave the island’s community an opportunity to explore ways to create memorable food and beverage experiences and to foster stronger links between suppliers and producers.”

“Encouraging local tourism operators, cafes, restaurants and other retail food outlets to feature local, seasonal produce helps raise the quality of the visitor experience.”

Ms O’Byrne said another initiative to help the island develop a long term destination plan for tourism was the Flinders Island Visitor Survey conducted by Tourism Tasmania. The final report will be released soon.

“The workshops and visitor survey are important steps in helping realise the tourism potential of Flinders Island,” Ms O’Byrne said.

Further information: Matthew Sullivan 0407 816462